Tag: Devotional

“Even though you may not see it now, there is real value in what I am teaching you through your present trials. You are gaining spiritual wealth and insights that those who scorn you will need from you someday. If that sounds foolish, you need to understand that it is the way of Jesus. He was ridiculed, scorned, and crucified by those who were in need of the salvation that He was providing for them. His heart was for the one who spit on Him.

"You are called to do the same. There are those in your life who are clueless to what you are going through. They have separated themselves from you because they don’t understand. Some have even come against you. You are to keep on loving them. You are to dig in with Me so that you can become all that I plan for you. I am doing the work in you for their good and for others who need to see Jesus. They will call upon you when they are out of answers. You be ready. You love them when they need you. I will be glorified.”

Psalm 3:1-6 AMP

1) Lord, How they are increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me.

2) Many are saying of me, There is no help for him in God. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

3) But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.

4) With my voice I cry to the Lord and He hears and answers me out of His holy hill. Selah [pause and calmly think of that]!

5) I lay down and slept; I wakened again, for the Lord sustains me.

6) I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me round about.

Psalm 51:10 AMP  

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me.

Luke 23:34 NIV  

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

 

Although the Word of God is very personal and our relationship with Jesus is one of intimacy, our lives are to be spent for the good of others just as His was. Otherwise, the whole work of the cross is a sham. God is duplicating Jesus in each of us. Jesus did nothing of Himself, held nothing back when called upon to give His life; and continually intercedes for each of us every moment. Those are some pretty big sandals to fill!

The United States gospel of guaranteed prosperity and utopian goals is for the immature believer at best, and apostate thinking when brought to its final conclusion. It does not mirror the crucified life of Jesus; therefore, it must be flawed. Jesus went through all that you and I are going through and then some, all for the best interests of others. We are to do the same. It really is that simple.

Teach me Your ways, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“It is My desire that you fully appreciate who you are in Jesus. The most magnificent thing happened to you when you made Him Lord over your life. You were changed completely. You were made to exist with Me for eternity. You are under Our new covenant. You and I can share intimate moments because We have been reconciled. There is so much more. Study My Word. Spend time with Me. I will show you all that you have become. I will also show you all that I desire you to be. This is a wondrous time for you. Enjoy it!”

1 Cor. 1:2 NIV

To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ - their Lord and ours.

2 Cor. 5:17 AMP

Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ, (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!

 

Fully understood, what God has done for mankind is the most wonderful action ever taken for the sake of another. We were helpless and without hope. Instead of leaving us in our misery, mercy is extended to any one of us who chooses to accept it. By accepting the extended hand of God, we enter into a relationship unparalleled since the Garden of Eden.

I praise You for what You have done for me, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Look around! What have I brought into your world today that is important to Me? Make it important to you. I may want you to pay a little more attention to your mate. You might be called to go the extra mile for someone who needs to see the love of Jesus. Maybe I will call you to give a simple smile in a place where they are rare. Just open your heart to what I might have in mind for someone today. Live My heart.  Bring the heart of Jesus to barren places. You will be amazed at what will grow beautiful.”

Matthew 11:12 NIV

“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.”

Mark 1:40-41a NIV

40) A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

41) Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.

Luke 6:36 NIV  

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

 

Over the years, Merry and I have really attempted to define the life of Jesus in simple terms and then focus our lives in that direction. This has sometimes been a conscious effort and other times the Lord has forced us to desperately find His heart because of intense situations or extreme circumstances.

I can’t speak for Merry, but I have found that seeking the heart of God becomes relatively easy when I consider the Lord’s desires or the best interests of others before my own in any given situation. That may seem oversimplified, but it has taken quite a while to really go there.

I have also found that functioning in His kind of love usually is not the first reaction that presents itself. My old nature rears its ugly head and has to be quieted before I can see or hear clearly enough for truth to come to me.

God is love. Jesus lived His love as our example. Isn’t it about time that we allowed others to see that love, and subsequently see Him because of our bringing it to every situation to which we are called?

Show me who to love today, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Are you doing your part in your community, knowing that you are the only ones who understand the spiritual war you are in? I ask you, do you consider yourself a spiritual citizen? Are you beginning to realize that your world is spiraling out of control at an alarming rate, and that it is a spiritual problem? Allow Me to share something with you. I have always asked My people to make a difference wherever they are placed by Me. Few of you have chosen to seek Me enough to understand what that really means. World calamities were never near enough to your door for you to need to call upon My power. Have you noticed how that is changing rapidly? Evil abounds and is becoming more blatant, even on your very doorstep at any given moment. It is going to continue, so you had better begin to realize your position as My spiritual warriors in your physical world.

"Start by praying for wisdom for the authorities to find those who harm others. Seek Me to confuse harmful people so that others are protected. It is all training, for you learn how to do battle when it directly affects your immediate world. Often in the past, I have blinded the eyes of the enemy during perilous times because of the prayers of the righteous. I have caused confusion to prevail in those seeking to do harm so that My children are protected. I have even allowed some of My children to walk in miracles on a daily basis so that My will is accomplished - all for the purpose of having My plans implemented through My people, who are winning the war on their knees.

"I am not asking you to simply transfer your selfish prayers to do warfare on your behalf. I am training you to see the needs of others and intercede on their behalf. Then I am asking others to do the same for you when you are in need. It is how the spiritual war is won on a world-wide basis, and also at a very personal level. Begin to prepare now. Soon you will need to be very familiar with My kind of warfare.”

Esther 4:14b AMP

…And who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this and for this very occasion.

Acts 21:13 AMP

Then Paul replied, What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart like this? For I hold myself in readiness not only to be arrested and bound and imprisoned at Jerusalem, but also [even] to die for the name of the Lord Jesus.

 

There is no question in my mind that our world is changing at an alarming rate. The “Leave it to Beaver” life no longer exists, no matter how much we long to reside there.

We have some real, immediate choices to make as the children of God. We can bury our heads in the sand, ignoring our responsibility to seek the Lord for our role in all of this; or we can submit to the changes, understand the seasons, and accept our place in the Lord’s timetable.

For many, many years the church of Jesus Christ in this land has been looking inward. We have consumed all the provisions of the Lord to heal our own wounds, pad our comfortable nests, delight ourselves in miracles; and for the most part, call upon God to be our personal servant, ad nauseum. Most of us have ignored the call to a crucified life of service for the sake of the Lord’s plan and for the benefit of others. It has always been the Lord’s priority, but we have gravitated to the teachings of wealth and prosperity.

That was never our portion as children of God. Now, on the brink of drastic changes, few of us even know what to do when there are no answers to be found - when things may never be better than they are at this very moment. We have thought only of ourselves for so long that our ability to enter into the real war, the spiritual one, is horribly hindered. Our spiritual muscles have atrophied. Our spiritual mind has dimmed.

God is shaking us awake to the season at hand. It may be the season that ushers in the coming of our Lord. Are we willing to prepare ourselves properly so that we fulfill our part in His plan during these times?

Needing to first cast off a spirit of complacency before I become totally blind and completely ineffective,

Jim Corbett

“Future believers are in need of you. Do you know that I am counting on you to grow up, so that I can trust you with those who will be coming to Jesus in the great harvest that is beginning? You need to take your eyes off of yourself and your own needs and begin to learn of Me for the sake of others. In your self-absorption, even arrogance, your life in Christ has become about you, rather than about Jesus and those who will embrace Him. Stop that selfish attitude. Turn your hearts now. I need you to grow up! Help get My Word to those who need to hear it. When they do hear, hold them close for Me. Lead them to a deeper, more loving walk. You need to go there first!”

Isaiah 28:9-10 TLB  

9) “Who does Isaiah think he is,” the people say, “to speak to us like this! Are we little children, barely old enough to talk?

10) “He tells us everything over and over again, a line at a time and in such simple words!”

Isaiah 43:21 NIV

…the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.

Hosea 13:6 NIV

“When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.”

1 Cor. 13:11 AMP

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; now that I have become a man, I am done with childish ways and have put them aside.

2 Cor. 12:15 AMP

But I will most gladly spend [myself] and be utterly spent for your souls.

Hebrews 12:12-13 NLB

12) So take a new grip with your tired hands and stand firm on your shaky legs.

13) Mark out a straight path for your feet. Then those who follow you, though they are weak and lame, will not stumble and fall but will become strong.

 

In Isaiah 28, Isaiah is talking to the drunken prophets and priests who lay in their own vomit, the people who were supposed to hear from God and teach others how to follow Him. Can’t you just smell the pompous arrogance and disdain that they had for this real prophet of God, who exposed the stench of their sin by expressing truth?

They thought that they knew how to follow God and had no clue that they couldn’t follow truth even when God gave it to them in the simplest of terms. In fact, they were offended that it was presented in a way that was beneath their station in life. His humble obedience exposed their arrogance. What a contrast to Paul’s heart to willingly exhaust his life for the sake of others.

Create in me a clean heart, Lord. Keep me teachable and “exhaustible,”

Jim Corbett